Editing Better Luck Tomorrow (section)

==Reception==
=== Critical reception {{anchor|Reception|Box office}} ===
The film has an approval rating of 81% at the review aggregation website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 106 reviews with an average rating of 7.03/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A promising work by Lin, the energetic ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' is disturbing and thought-provoking."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://rottentomatoes.com/m/better_luck_tomorrow/ | title = Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) | work = [[Rotten Tomatoes]] | publisher = [[Fandango Media|Fandango]] | access-date=2020-04-12}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 32 critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/better-luck-tomorrow |title=Better Luck Tomorrow Reviews |work=[[Metacritic]] | publisher = [[CBS Interactive]]|access-date=March 6, 2018}}</ref>

[[Peter Travers]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' wrote "Lin is a talent to watch. There's a sting to this film that gets to you."<ref name="RS">{{Cite magazine |last=Travers |first=Peter |date=April 11, 2003 |title=Better Luck Tomorrow |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/better-luck-tomorrow-249243/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221029041817/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/better-luck-tomorrow-249243/ |archive-date=October 29, 2022}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] in the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film a full four-star-rating and wrote that it was a "disturbing and skillfully-told parable about growing up in today's America" and that Lin "reveals himself as a skilled and sure director".<ref>{{cite news |author=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=2003-04-11 |title=Better Luck Tomorrow |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/better-luck-tomorrow-2003}}</ref> Ebert defended the filmmakers during a screening after an audience member accused them of misrepresenting their culture and race. Ebert declared "What I find very condescending and offensive about your statement, is nobody would say to a bunch of white filmmakers, 'how could you do this to your people?'".<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSzP9YV3jbc|title=Roger Ebert yelling at Sundance|website=YouTube|publisher=ianmalcm|date=May 20, 2010|access-date=November 12, 2023}}</ref> In 2018, Jane Yong Kim of ''[[The Atlantic]]'' wrote the film "[complicates] the question of Asian American representation in Hollywood in ways that still resonate deeply today".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Jane Yong |date=21 August 2018 |title=How Better Luck Tomorrow Argued for Its Existence, 15 Years Ago |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/08/how-better-luck-tomorrow-argued-for-its-existence-15-years-ago/568045/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822013131/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/08/how-better-luck-tomorrow-argued-for-its-existence-15-years-ago/568045/ |archive-date=August 22, 2018 |access-date=December 26, 2021 |website=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref>

=== Release ===
''Better Luck Tomorrow'' opened on 13 screens on April 11, 2003,<ref name="BOM" /> earning the highest per-screen average of any in film release at the time.<ref name=EO/>

Much of the film's success was attributed to grassroots campaigning by young Asian-American viewers,<ref name="Email">{{cite news |last1=Yoshino |first1=Kimi |date=April 11, 2003 |title=An E-mail push for 'Better Luck' |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-11-fi-grassroots11-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416232802/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-11-fi-grassroots11-story.html |archive-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref> particularly college students, who promoted the film on school campuses and online.<ref name=EO/>

=== Awards and film festivals ===
* Official Selection and Grand Jury Prize Nomination – [[Sundance Film Festival]], 2002. In a question and answer session following a festival screening, in response to an audience member who asked director Lin if he thought it was irresponsible to portray Asian-Americans in such a negative light, [[Roger Ebert]] stood up and said, angrily, "What I find very offensive and condescending about your statement is nobody would say to a bunch of white filmmakers, 'How could you do this to your people?'". And then he continued: "This film has the right to be about these people, and Asian-Americans have the right to be whatever the hell they want to be. They do not have to 'represent' their people."<ref name="EO" /><ref name=":0" /> Ebert's approval of the film drew the attention of major studios, leading eventually to MTV's buying the film for distribution.<ref>{{cite web |last=Downey |first=Ryan J. |date=April 3, 2003 |title='Better Luck Tomorrow' Gets People Talking About Asian-American Stereotypes |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1471010/better-luck-tomorrow-gets-ebert-screaming.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321111805/http://www.mtv.com/news/1471010/better-luck-tomorrow-gets-people-talking-about-asian-american-stereotypes/ |archive-date=March 21, 2022 |access-date=December 26, 2021 |website=[[MTV]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=National Public Radio |title=Better Luck Tomorrow |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=934065 |work=[[All Things Considered]] |date=January 23, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A Sundance success story |url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-xpm-2003-04-24-export5168-story.html |access-date=16 April 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 24, 2003}}</ref>
* Official Selection – [[Toronto International Film Festival]], 2002. Lin said reception at the Toronto festival was notably different than Sundance with the audience more interested in discussing the state of youth rather than the race of the ethnicity of the actors. "In America, most of the time, I can't even get into talking about the issues, because they're just stuck on race," he said.<ref name=EO/>
* [[Independent Spirit Awards]] – [[Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award|John Cassavetes Award]] Nomination, 2004<ref>{{Cite web |title=19th Independent Spirit Awards Coverage (2004) |url=https://www.digitalhit.com/isa/19th.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031231141738/http://digitalhit.com:80/isa/19th.shtml |archive-date=December 31, 2003 |access-date=December 26, 2021 |website=Digitalhit.com}}</ref>